VERY EARLY WESTERN BASEBALL GAME!! ALSO, THE RESOURCES OF ALASKA – GOLD MINING, FISHERIES, COAL

Page three sports report titled: THE BASE-BALL GAME,” describes a 3 1/2 hr. game of eight innings (rain stopped the game) won by the Olympics team of Victoria by a whopping score of 45 to 23 over the Raniers of Olympia. The box score is also published. A return match was scheduled for the Fourth of July. The paper goes on to say, “Although the boys were rather badly beaten, yet we think it not a fair test. They will play better on their own grounds.” This is the first time I’ve seen a baseball game this early played on the West Coast! Imagine–1869!

This very rare Washington Territorial newspaper also contains a front page report lauding the “almost inexhaustible and invaluable fisheries of Alaska, the gold fields of Cook’s Inlet and the Stickeen River region, the rich coal mines of Unalaska and the vast forests of timber so near our own ports.” The article appears to be very supportive of the 1867 Alaska Purchase (known as “Seward’s Folly”).

Four pages, very fine condition. A scarce Western newspaper filled with advertisements for saloons, drug stores, insurance companies and even the “OFFICE SUPT. INDIAN AFFAIRS.”